


Avalon Down

by FaulknersGirl



Category: Merlin (TV), The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-28
Updated: 2018-11-27
Packaged: 2019-09-01 14:41:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16767148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FaulknersGirl/pseuds/FaulknersGirl
Summary: Avalon’s down. It’s borne of magic. Find Arthur. Find the others. Don’t get bit. A Merlin (BBC) and The Walking Dead (AMC) fusion reincarnation piece because it seemed like a good idea at the time.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Some dialogue is taken directly (or very closely resembles) dialogue from AMC’s The Walking Dead and BBC’s Merlin.

“Command to Avalon. Command to Avalon. We’re receiving your distress signal, report.”

“Command?” A small voice crackled through the transmitter.

“Avalon, go for Command. What the fuck is going on down there? Sensors were lighting up like a fucking Christmas tree and now the board's gone dark.”

“Command, I, uh… It's a Code Black, catastrophic failure… I turned the sensors off.”

The crackle of open air and heavy breath seemed overwhelming in the small security communications office, “Roger, Avalon. Hold for further instructions.”

“We had to go into full compound lock down…I can’t--” She paused and fingered the silver chain around her neck, “I think I’m the only one left.”

The Major was saved from responding when the General swept into the room and took control of the comms, “This is General Eames. To whom am I speaking?”

“Dr., uh,…I’m Freya.”

“Major, get video up now.” He clicked back, “Dr. confirm. Avalon’s down?”

“Affirmative, Avalon’s down, sir. Everyone’s contaminated, it’s all contaminated. We’ve had casualties….” The radio slipped from her hand, “Merlin.”

“Dr. Freya, how did this happen?”

Her head was pounding, she pressed her palm to her forehead in an attempt to soothe the pain and stop the flood of images overtaking her thoughts,

“Sir, there was a spill or something…” She shook her head and pulled up the incident log on the computer, “Um, we had a report that B-Wing was contaminated, but the scrubbers didn’t come on. They tried for a manual override, but, uh, the systems were off line…Compound went on lockdown. That was, uh, 10 days ago."

"Ten days ago?" General Eames asked, his jaw tight with anger, "Dr. confirm? Avalon went down ten days ago?"

"After B-Wing went down. Why don't you know this? They said you were coming. Everyone was waiting!" 

"Dr. what happened?"

"They were so sick. All of them. The fever hit hard and we had casualties, but then…then they…"

"Dr.?"

"They woke up and they started.” She paused. “They came back monsters."

"What do you mean monsters?"

"They started eating each other…and us."

"Eating—?"

"It must have been…I don’t know, sir. They died, but they didn't stay dead.” She ground her palms into her eyes and groaned. There were flashes. Like a dreams half remembered. Cold. Dying. The lake, the sword, Merlin.

“Dr., where’s your C.O.?” She didn’t respond. The streaming video revealed the doctor crouched in the corner with her head in her hands, “Freya!” She looked up, “Where’s your commanding officer? Where is everyone?”

“Everyone’s down, sir...I don’t know sir. It went airborne, I guess. C-Wing went and we lost containment. Main was compromised. I couldn’t find anyone else…My head!” She cried out.” I…who’s Freya? Am I Freya?” She asked confused. 

“She’s breaking down.” The General murmured. He cleared his throat, “Dr., do you understand what happens now?”

She jumped up from the floor, “Sir, I…you can’t just leave us. There may be other survivors…You can't just leave us.” She spoke directly to the camera now, the radio transmitter clasped against her chest.

“You’re all contaminated. There’s nothing we can do.” He watched the tears fall silently down her face.

"Please don't--" Her head drooped again and she fell to her knees, “I remember. I remember everything. Oh God, what did we do?” She whispered into the ground.

“Dr.?”

She picked up her radio and threaded her hands violently through her hair, “They’re waking up. What did we do? Waking up.”

“Who’s waking up?”

“Everyone,” She looked up at the camera perched in the corner of the tiny office, her fingers wrapped around the silver sigil on the chain around her neck. “Arthur, God,” she stared out, her eyes unfocused, “Merlin too. All of them. All together again. I have to warn them.” She lunged towards the desk and scrambled up into the chair. Her hands trembled as they lingered above the keyboard, whether with adrenaline or the virus, she couldn't tell. 

“Dr., we’re going to activate the scrubbers now. It’ll all be over soon.” He turned to his staff, “Initiate shutdown protocol.”

“I have to…I have to tell them what happened.” She repeated to herself, losing words with each reiteration. 

“Dr., protocol has been initiated.” She did not respond.

He addressed the major to his right, “What’s she doing?” She held her hand palm open towards the computer. The grainy black and white video stream hid the flash of gold in her eyes. “What is she saying?”

“Sir, she’s…accessing something, I can’t tell…” The major scrambled, his fingers flying rapidly across the keyboard.

“They’re in lockdown. Everything’s down.” The General barked.

“She’s overridden the controls, sir.”

“With what? Magic? Major, shut her down!”

“Sir, look at this.” General Eames turned towards the other security officer, “I ran the backgrounds for all Avalon employees. There’s no Dr. Freya on any staff list. I ran it through the system, there’s no one called Freya enlisted anywhere.”

“Then who in the hell am I talking to?” He turned back towards the video feed, “Run facial recognition and figure out how she’s accessing the computers…and shut her down!”

The shutdown protocol worked quickly. In the end, she was only able to send one email.

To: A_Emyrs@Albion.edu

Avalon’s down. It’s borne of magic. Find Arthur. Find the others. Don’t get bit. 

-Freya

Her blood felt like fire and her skin like ice. Her head swarmed with thoughts of now and before, of memories, of fear, of Merlin and monsters. She could hear them in the halls. The bodies of the dead reawakened. Instinct driven monsters lusting for flesh drawing ever closer. The smell of chemical scrubbers wafted down from the vents.

"It won't work." She mumbled. "They won't die."

She ran her fingers across the service revolver left forgotten on the desk. She wasn't going to die a monster, not this time. She twined her fingers and snapped the necklace she had worn since childhood. She stared down at the symbol cupped in her palm.

"Ásælede mec." She whispered as her eyes glowed gold. She wrapped her hand around the gun. She placed the weapon in her mouth and closed her eyes.

* * *

The eyes only file summary simply read, ‘Avalon down. Threat contained.’ All records of the program were sealed. The underground facility was scrubbed and the compound was abandoned. As the winter winds blew, the house above the facility slowly filled with the homeless and the displaced seeking refuge from the cold. The kids whispered about the wisp of a girl in doctor’s scrubs who paced the halls, a cavernous hole where her occipital bone should be.

The winter cold gave way to spring and that spring bloomed into a beautiful summer. As frost gave way to humidity an insidious force worked its way through the spaces wrought from expansion and contraction. Destruction was carried to civilization on a cool summer breeze. 


	2. Chapter 2

He sprinted into the campus library intent on printing his paper quickly so he could grab something for lunch before class. He joined the line of students waiting to use the printers. He fished his zip drive from his backpack and changed the song filtering through the one black headphones jammed in his ear. The line still hadn’t moved as he pulled his phone from his pocket, checked Facebook, thumbed through his email. He felt his stomach rumble and his patience wane. The song changed again and he scanned the packed library searching for a familiar face. A small laugh caught his attention. He turned toward the sound, a curly haired girl working behind the circulation desk. She laughed again as she pushed a stack of books across the desk to a student and he was struck by the familiarity of her. He felt his stomach twist. Her smile. That laugh. The way her hair fell in her eyes. The memory of her hand in his. He would have sworn he almost felt the sensation of warm skin against his. He racked his brain, but he couldn’t find her name. The memory of her like a dream misremembered. Dancing in the ether of remembered and forgotten. An intense pressure gathered behind his eyes. He shuffled forward in the line, his thoughts still tangled. He pinched the space between his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. A vision in purple and a hall filled with red. The smell of her. The taste of her lips. Her name trapped on the tip of his tongue. There was only one student left between him and accomplishing his task, but he found himself walking towards her without a second thought. He grabbed an abandoned book from a table and sidled up to the desk.

She threw a warm hello in his direction as she finished closing out the last exchange on her computer screen, “Just give me one sec. Okay, Sorry about—,” she stopped short as her eyes met his. She pinched the bridge of her nose. She shook her head and gave a small smile, “I’m sorry. Busy day…Is this all?”

“Yeah, this is it.” He said quietly as he pushed the book across the desk.

She made no move to scan his book and their eyes locked once more. She blushed and fumbled through the book looking for the barcode. “I’m sorry, but do I know you? It’s just you—you look so familiar,” She asked her brow furrowed.

“I, uh, well maybe we’ve had a class together?” He answered tepidly.

“Maybe,” She responded unconvinced. “Can I have your I.D?...To check the books out, not like anything weird,” She laughed nervously. His heart swelled. He knew that laugh. He slid his I.D. across the desk, their fingers meeting in the middle.

They paused. His forefinger resting against hers. Someone coughed loudly. She jumped and grabbed the ID. Shaking her head ruefully, she checked out his book. An errant curl fell into her eyes. She pushed it back. He choked back a gasp at the familiarity of that gesture. 

“Alright, well you’re all set. Due back in two weeks.”

“I…” He looked unsure. His forehead creased in confusion, a question resting on his lips. Someone cleared their throat loudly. He turned and noticed substantial line of students waiting. “We should get together. Have coffee or something.”

She glanced at the line forming over his shoulder, “Yes. We should. Yes, okay." She laughed lightly. “I’m off at 12:00…I’ll meet you at the cafe?”

His hand touched hers as he gathered up his things. He felt a rush of warmth at the memory of her. “Perfect.” He smiled wide and genuine.

As he exited the building, he resisted the urge to look over his shoulder. He still had 15 minutes to burn before her shift ended. His stomach roiled in anticipation. He considered setting off to find another printer or possibly some food, but he couldn’t move any further than the bottom of the library stairs. Hands jammed into his pockets, he waited.

The name on his I.D. had read A.J. Magnus. She knew that name. He played a sport or was president of something. But she didn’t know the man, but she couldn’t shake the feeling of familiarity. The image of a man, his faced prematurely lined with worry, his shoulders draped in red. A sword sheathed on his hip. A swirl a red, a crown of gold, his hands, his lips…their love? She shook her head and glanced at the clock, the next shift was late. She opened the browser on her computer and clicked through the local news homepage. An impending teacher’s strike, flu outbreak, car accident. Nothing to draw her attention away from Arthur. She gasped as the pieces fell into place, as a lifetime of memories came flooding back. _Arthur_.

“Jenn! Jennifer! Are you alright?” Her eyes refocused as she processed the sensation of hands gripping her upper arms and the sound of her name, “Jenn?”

“Amy? Amy, I’m fine…I’m fine.” She pushed the other girl off, “You…you’re late. I have to run.” She shrugged on her backpack and brushed passed the other girl without another word.

She pushed through the crush of bodies gathered in the post lunch rush. She threw open the double doors and there he was standing at the bottom of the stairs in a worn red hoodie. The once and future king. He turned the moment she began her descent. When their eyes met, she saw the light of remembrance in his eyes.

He sprinted up the steps closing the remaining distance between them. She took a step back from him and then moved forward again. She pressed her hand against his chest timidly in an attempt to reassure herself he was real and solid. 

“Arthur,” she asked incredulously, “Is this real? You were dead. Merlin said…you were dead. Mordred and Avalon…How is this? You can’t…What is happening? This is--”

“Guinevere,” His voice cut through her rambling. He cupped her cheek in his hand. 

“Arthur,” She pressed her hand against his. “I have missed you.”

“And I you.”

She threw herself into his arms. He held her tightly against his chest. Breathing in the scent of her and reveling in the sensation of feeling Gwen against him once more. 


End file.
